# 3 Pre-Exhaust

The idea behind pre-exhaust training is to do isolation exercises prior to compound exercises so that you fatigue the primary muscle group of the compound exercise before starting it. An example of this would be doing pec flyes before bench pressing. Fatiguing your pecs before bench pressing may sound counterproductive. But, it’s an effective way to stimulate muscle growth. In this example, you’ll more thoroughly work your pecs on the compound movement. Using a bench press, it’s usually your triceps that fatigue first during the lift. By pre-exhausting your pecs, it’s more likely that your pecs will fatigue either before or at the same time as your triceps during the lift. This ensures a more complete breakdown of your pecs and will lead to greater growth in this area. Pre-exhausting is not just limited to chest exercises. You can apply it across a variety of muscle groups and see results for the same reasons. Don’t forget to make sure to avoid using your secondary muscles when you perform your first isolation exercise, or else you won’t see the same results.